Amare Stoudemire's injury may be reminder for Lakers to keep cool

New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire, at left defending the Clippers'… (Frank Franklin II / Associated…)

As it always is with a Mike Brown practice, there remained plenty of issues to go over before the Lakers meet Denver in Game 2 Tuesday at Staples Center. The Lakers expect Denver to speed up the tempo. They anticipate point guard Ty Lawson will play more aggressively. The Lakers believe Andrew Bynum will face even more relentless double teams.

But Coach Mike Brown didn't highlight New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire suffering a left-hand injury Monday after punching the glass case of a fire extinguisher apparently out of frustration over New York's 2-0 first-round deficit to Miami.

"Don't need to now," Brown said when asked if he thought it might be a good time to remind his players about maintaining their composure. "He did it for us. I'm sure guys have taken it into account and have talked about it today."

The Lakers showed few signs of weakness in their 103-88 win Sunday over Denver in Game 1 of their playoff series. Bynum set a franchise record for blocks in a playoff game (10). The Lakers featured six players scoring in double figures. And L.A. held the Nuggets to a 35.6% shooting clip.

But the Lakers have their own personnel issues as well.

Although Brown plans to play Lakers forward Jordan Hill tonight in Game 2, Hill has a pending court case in Houston stemming from a third-degree felony charge in an alleged incident involving a girlfriend. Lakers forward Metta World Peace has to sit out four more games as part of his suspension for elbowing Oklahoma City guard James Harden last week.